:: F.O.D. - Powerload ::

Record Robot was born this week, so I'm putting up a song by a band that hails from the city of my birth, Philadelphia. Philly had a somewhat decent music scene in the mid-to-late eighties. No, I'm not talking about The Hooters, I'm talking more along the lines of Dead Milkmen, Ruin, Serial Killers, and Pagan Babies. One of my favorite local bands during that time period was Flag of Democracy, better known (as were most 80's punk bands) by their acronym, F.O.D.

I was probably about 14 or 15 years old when I found a copy of their 1984 debut 7", Love Songs, and instantly loved it. Fast, loud, sloppy hardcore; the sonic equivalent of two cats mating in your ear duct. I ran out and picked up their follow-up LP, Shatter Your Day, for more. Most of this early output was typical punk rock fare thematically: non-conformity, oppression, war, suicide, rejection, etc., but these guys did it with a great sense of humor. They weren't cool and they knew it, just like this listener. Or, at least, that's what it felt like to me growing up in an era of hair metal fandom, which is what seemed to pass for "cool" in my neighborhood.

"Powerload" is one of my favorite F.O.D. tunes, off of that Love Songs 7". Singing along to it in my room was incredibly satisfying during my miserable teenaged years (oh, hey, its pretty satisfying to sing along to in my miserable adult years, too). Bonus points for the most creative use of the Philly colloquialism, "YO!".

F.O.D. are surprisingly still around, though their output is incredibly hard to find. Their website is pretty shabby, but it looks like the show dates page gets updated every once in awhile for Philly area shows.



Phil

This entry was posted on Thursday, June 23, 2005 at 9:05 AM. You can skip to the end and leave a response.